Kenwood TS480. Far better than every single one of those mentioned, a very good second hand buy and you can either have 100W with ATU or 200W without ATU. RX and TX infinitely better. Mount the head unit on the dash/centre console using a Brodit Proclip mount as a base to screw the head bracket to.
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New Rig: Need Help Deciding
- Thread starter wcsd106
- Start date
718 is also a good option, I boguht one for $350 and one for $400 used....better than the optima or lincoln and more power.
When I see RCI 2995'sasking 800 bucks, and FT450d's for 730.It should a no brainer which to buy.
I would have recommended an HF radio if that were what this post was about as well BBB. The poster has the radios he wants or is looking at already posted. It seems the optima mk3 is the clear winner so far, and IMO, is the best one of the bunch. They are a simple radio yet well built and the only one with and extra filter for SSB. No other export has that at least. I didn't see a 2995 listed or even a 2970 or I would have told the poster to just get the kenwood TS480HX 200 watt model and use that. But there is a large price jump from the radios he has listed to one of the kenwoods. Unless you get lucky and find a used one for like $500, which isn't out of the question but I haven't seen any that low in price without being suspicious. For what he is wanting to spend, around $300 for a radio per the radios he posted, again the optima mk3 is the best of the bunch. JMHO. I have not owned any of the other radios but can speak from experience with the optima mk3 and will say it kicks butt. No drift, it's already opened up for tx from 24.500-29.999. It's a dual final radio that will give you 50-60 watts on SSB, I honestly don't use AM mode enough to say it's worth a crap, but FM mode works well too on both RX and TX. All that is really needed is a mic if you don't get the radio from yeticomm, which is what I would do having to do it all over again. But at the time the new mics weren't being offered and I scored a real Japan made Icom hm36 mic that works well with this radio. And ordering it from yeticomm will at least get you the warranty and such and the radio will have been aligned and tuned properly by Mr. Yobbo himself
. JMHO.
. JMHO.
here is a new radio at yeticom, no its not the optima replacement, but built in the same case,, still not up to the specs and performance of the optima but still a good little radio:
http://www.survival-systems.com/yeticom/SS-485H.html
http://www.survival-systems.com/yeticom/SS-485H.html
Sensitivity:
SSB...0.5 V at 12 dB SINAD
AM...0.9 V at 12dB SINAD
FM...0.5 V at 12dB SINAD
I hope not. Hope they mean 0.5uV.
The guy may not be aware you can get a used ham radio that might be a better fit than exports at near the same price so people were throwing out that option.
Lots of peoples journey is to buy a SSB CB, then a export, then finally buying a ham radio as they learn about hobby. Better to save them time if they are asking and give lots of options.
without the journey, can you truly appreciate your destination?
I had a YetiCom Optima about 1 1/2 years ago and loved it. I purchased another one from one of my US dealers here in the States. They put in regular orders so it's the most update version. I'm curious to see which mic comes with it. I can post pics.
I seemed to remember doing a mod to the board of the mic the last time....and then stumbled upon a mod online, though I think it was for an even earlier version of the mic. I don't remember exactly, but what I do remember, the stock mic performed incredibly well after modding it a bit. I believe it was a matter of changing the resistance. I may have even installed a variable resistor pot.
At any rate, I do recall cranking the modulation on the inside (wait...don't judge me) to work with non-powered mics and went away from the power Mics,msomething you can't do with the PL2 (not enough audio).
What I do remember quite well are the contacts I made. Without a doubt, I made more contacts on the freeband than with any other radio. I think part of the reason was the simplicity of scanning the band, manually and with the scanning feature. While I use a 2950 today and recently sold my Pres Linc 2, I'm longing for the design of the Yeti and looking for that simplicity once again. I miss the 5Kz steps BADLY. I hate the 1khz and 10Khz steps with the 2950. You either miss half the stations or you're scrolling through way too many. With the 2950, I never even bother any more. With the YetiCom, I seemed to scan the band constantly using the mic buttons, and I don't even like to talk skip. Go figure...
I also remember that amazing SSB filter. Love that.
The one thing that I don't normally like is an open clarifier, unless you have a galaxy which begs an open clarifier or you're talking off frequency when the a/c cools down or the heater warms up. When you tune others in that are off frequency, you've just tuned yourself off frequency with them. I say this but at the same time, strangely, the facts don't lie and the results speak for themselves. The stinking Yeti radio just rocks on SSB.
Mine will show up in Thursday. Now I can't remember if I got a few extra for stock or not, but, what the heck. They only take 2 days to get here.
One complaint I did have...poor back lighting. I wonder if that's changed.
Cheers.
I seemed to remember doing a mod to the board of the mic the last time....and then stumbled upon a mod online, though I think it was for an even earlier version of the mic. I don't remember exactly, but what I do remember, the stock mic performed incredibly well after modding it a bit. I believe it was a matter of changing the resistance. I may have even installed a variable resistor pot.
At any rate, I do recall cranking the modulation on the inside (wait...don't judge me) to work with non-powered mics and went away from the power Mics,msomething you can't do with the PL2 (not enough audio).
What I do remember quite well are the contacts I made. Without a doubt, I made more contacts on the freeband than with any other radio. I think part of the reason was the simplicity of scanning the band, manually and with the scanning feature. While I use a 2950 today and recently sold my Pres Linc 2, I'm longing for the design of the Yeti and looking for that simplicity once again. I miss the 5Kz steps BADLY. I hate the 1khz and 10Khz steps with the 2950. You either miss half the stations or you're scrolling through way too many. With the 2950, I never even bother any more. With the YetiCom, I seemed to scan the band constantly using the mic buttons, and I don't even like to talk skip. Go figure...
I also remember that amazing SSB filter. Love that.
The one thing that I don't normally like is an open clarifier, unless you have a galaxy which begs an open clarifier or you're talking off frequency when the a/c cools down or the heater warms up. When you tune others in that are off frequency, you've just tuned yourself off frequency with them. I say this but at the same time, strangely, the facts don't lie and the results speak for themselves. The stinking Yeti radio just rocks on SSB.
Mine will show up in Thursday. Now I can't remember if I got a few extra for stock or not, but, what the heck. They only take 2 days to get here.
One complaint I did have...poor back lighting. I wonder if that's changed.
Cheers.
I got my optima mk3 from you CBRadiosPRONTO!! Been about 2-3 yrs ago. I am still rocking that radio!! It kicks butt and made me more contacts in my mobile than I could ever keep track of!! And yes there is some mods that can be done to the old phantom stock mic that used to come with them. Changing resistor values like you mentioned. Awesome radio that just is easy to work and made well!!
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